Blue Jackets squander good start, fall 6-2 to Washington Capitals
The Blue Jackets’ habit of not sustaining good starts bit them again Thursday at Nationwide Arena.
After outplaying the Washington Capitals for the first 10-plus minutes of the game and taking a 1-0 lead on Johnny Gaudreau’s goal at 5:19, the game started slipping away in the final five minutes of it.
Washington didn’t score in the first, but tacked on four goals in the second plus more two in the third for a 6-2 win that set a Capitals franchise record as their eighth straight road victory. It was the second straight loss for the Blue Jackets (11-24-2), who ended a seven-game losing streak on Dec. 31 with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
“They definitely pushed in the second,” said Gaudreau, who snapped a nine-game goal drought. “We got caught out there a little long one too many times. We turned the puck over a few times and they capitalized.”
Alex Ovechkin scored his 29th goal of the season and 809th of his career, T.J. Oshie scored two goals and the Capitals got three more goals from Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Martin Fehervary and Garnet Hathaway.
Gavin Bayreuther scored the second goal for The Blue Jackets (11-24-2), who started goalie Elvis Merzlikins (31 saves) in net. Bayreuther scored a second goal early in the third, briefly cutting it to 4-3, but it was overturned by a coaching challenge that spotted defenseman Adam Boqvist offside before the puck entered the Washington zone.
The Capitals soon made it 5-2 on Oshie’s second goal, which he scored to cap a power play.
“He gives up six, but I don’t think he played bad tonight,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said of Merzlikins. “It’s probably very frustrating for him. For us, we’re there. We get it to 4-3 in the third and we’re an inch offside. Then they get a power play and that’s the difference.”
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins still struggling, unlucky
It was a goal that fit perfectly into the Blue Jackets' season of woe.
It involved the best of intentions, the worst of fortunes and a touch of defensive incompetence that combined to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 lead late in the second period, which quickly became 4-2 before the period ended. Less than five minutes after Bayreuther tied it 2-2 with a “knucklepuck,” from the hockey gods, the Capitals surged back on Fehervary’s goal off an improbable sequence.
Dylan Strome started it with a shot from the right circle, which Blue Jackets forward Liam Foudy deflected off his own knee with an outstretched stick. That was the "best intentions" part. The puck then shot off Foudy's shin pad and headed straight for Fehervary, who’d jumped to create shooting lane through traffic. Here's where terrible luck entered the scene.
Upon landing, the puck clunked off Fehervary's helmet, flipped into the air and arced toward the Blue Jackets’ net over a crowd of unaware players. It eventually fluttered into the cage and plopped to the ice behind a stunned Merzlikins.
“I’ve gotten used to it,” Merzlikins said. “All these crazy goals are happening to me. This year, it’s something crazy. I had no idea where it was. I saw just (Vladislav Gavrikov) in the last moment trying to get it, but I had no idea where it is. I just lost the puck in front of me.”
It’s been that kind of season for the Blue Jackets and, specifically, Merzlikins, who hadn’t played since Dec. 15 and was coming off a lower-body injury plus his fourth COVID-19 infection. Along with rotten luck on several odd-bounce goals, Merzlikins is also struggling to keep more typical shots out of the net.
He allowed six goals on 37 shots, dropping his ice cold save percentage from .864 before the game to a frigid .861 after. Likewise, his goals-against average continued to balloon, inflating from 4.68 before the game to 4.78 afterward.
This is the first of a five-year contract extension Merzlikins signed last season, which carries a $5.4 million charge against the NHL salary cap. To put it bluntly, they need him to work through his struggles and he needs to get a lot more starts. His teammates also need to provide more help to Merzlikins, Joonas Korpisalo and rookie Daniil Tarasov than what’s been provided in the first 37 games.
If there was a bright side to Merzlikins’ performance, it was multiple stretches of sharpness that can be used as building blocks for his next outing.
“To me, most important was to track the puck, be in position and have patience on the shot,” he said. “Before Christmas, during the COVID, maybe it was a good thing … mentally I had a good break. I (thought) about it and I was chasing the puck. I was trying to chase and trying to do too much. My best hockey was when I let the puck hit me and I was trying to do that tonight. It worked, but still … six goals. There is a lot to work on.”
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Washington Capitals notes
— Gaudreau made the Metropolitan Division’s roster for the 2023 NHL All-Star game Feb. 4 in Sunrise, Fla., hosted by the Florida Panthers. Gaudreau, playing his first season with the Blue Jackets, was an easy choice. He leads the team in scoring (38 points), assists (27) and co-leads in goals (11) with captain Boone Jenner. The announcement was made by the NHL during the first intermission break.
"I've got a bunch of family that comes (to All-Star weekend)," said Gaudreau, who will make his seventh All-Star appearance. "It's nice it's in Florida this year too, so that will be good. It'll be nice to get down there and spend some time with some family and friends. It's a fun weekend."
— Eric Robinson is the latest Blue Jackets player to leave the lineup. He missed this game with an upper-body injury that occurred when Robinson took a big hit in the Blue Jackets’ 4-0 loss Tuesday at the Ottawa Senators. The hit appeared to slam his head into the glass, leaving him wobbly. He didn’t return and didn’t participate in the morning skate Thursday.
— Rookie defenseman Nick Blankenburg again participated fully in the morning skate and appears on track to return from a fractured ankle/high-ankle sprain soon.
Columbus Blue Jackets lineup vs Washington Capitals
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Kent Johnson – Emil Bemstrom
Gustav Nyquist – Jack Roslovic – Patrik Laine
Carson Meyer – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Liam Foudy – Cole Sillinger – Kirill Marchenko
Defensemen
Vladislav Gavrikov – Andrew Peeke
Tim Berni – Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther - Adam Boqvist
Goalies
Elvis Merzlikins
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: D Marcus Bjork
Injury/illness: C Boone Jenner (fractured thumb), G Elvis Merzlikins (illness), LW Eric Robinson (upper body), F Yegor Chinakhov (ankle), G Daniil Taraov (upper body), D Zach Werenski (shoulder), F Justin Danforth (shoulder), D Jake Bean (shoulder), D Nick Blankenburg (broken ankle/high-ankle sprain), F Jakub Voracek (concussion).
Up next for the Columbus Blue Jackets
Another tough Metropolitan Division back-to-back awaits the Jackets, who host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday and rematch against the Capitals on Sunday at Capital One Arena.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets overrun by Washington Capitals in second period
